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Choir of the Year 2014 open for entries

17 January 2014

The sixteenth biennial Choir of the Year
competition is open to all amateur choirs across the UK, of any age and of any
musical style. Auditions will be held across the country from March to June.

Any amateur choir consisting of 8-100 singers can take part and
registration is now open at www.choiroftheyear.com. Following the Auditions, the top
sixteen choirs will go through to the Category Finals at London’s Royal
Festival Hall on 19 October and from there, six Grand Finalists will
compete for the title Choir of the Year 2014 at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall
on 7 December, broadcast on BBC Radio and TV.

Ken Burton, judge for Choir of the Year 2014,
and recent judge for BBC’s The Choir: Sing while you Work’ said: ‘The UK has a world-class choral tradition which continues to grow and
evolve and it’s fantastic that there has been an explosion of new choirs in
recent years. Choir of the Year brings together established choirs and new
groups seeking a challenge, and provides a platform to celebrate the wealth and
diversity of singing talent in communities across the UK.

‘The Auditions are a great day of singing for
choirs and audiences alike. As judges we aim to give positive and constructive
feedback which builds confidence and would encourage any choir to give it a go!’

www.choiroftheyear.com

Yamaha showcases education system in London

17 January 2014

The Yamaha European Junior Original Concert, now in its 7th year in
Europe and 43rd year globally, will be held at London’s Shaw Theatre on 8
February.

The event is a showcase for the Yamaha music school system, which has as its
founding concept the aim of enabling pupils 'to freely express one's own
feelings through music'. The scheme has had considerable worldwide success. Since
the opening of the first Yamaha Music School in 1954 in Japan, more than
600,000 students have received lessons from over 20,000 teachers at more than
6,000 different locations around the world.

The London concert will feature 19 young performers between the ages of 6 and
14 from throughout Europe - including 8 from the UK - all of whom will perform
their own original compositions.

www.yamahamusiceducation.co.uk

BBC Proms Composers Competition open for entries

17 January 2014

The
sixteenth annual BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition is
open for entries.

The
competition, which is open to students aged 12 to 18, offers winners the opportunity
to reach wide audiences, having their music performed by professional musicians
and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Winners also receive a BBC commission.

Entries
are judged by a panel of top composers including Judith Weir, Stuart MacRae and
Fraser Trainer, who will be looking for music that is original, unique and
inspiring. All entrants are invited to attend InspireDays, a series of workshops during the BBC
Proms 2014 season including workshops, talks, the Young Composers’ Concert at
the Royal College of Music and an evening BBC Proms concert.
The
deadline for entries is 22 May.

The scheme’s Inspire Composer
Labs take place in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff
and Belfast, between February and May 2014. Composer Labs are free and offer
young composers the opportunity to work alongside leading composers and
professional orchestral musicians. Places can be booked via the Proms
website.

Teachers
will also have the opportunity to participate in the scheme by taking part in
an Inspire Teachers’ Lab in London on 28
February, run in partnership with the BBC Concert Orchestra and designed to
help teachers broaden and explore their compositional teaching skills. For more
information and to register interest, email promslearning@bbc.co.uk.

bbc.co.uk/proms

Institute of Education research links exposure to classical music with enhanced listening skills

13 January 2014

Opportunities to listen extensively to classical music in the early
years of primary school are likely to lead to children appreciating a wider
range of music in later years, according to a study by Sue Hallam of the
Institute of Education (IOE).

Professor Hallam carried out the research to evaluate the effectiveness
of Apollo Music Projects, a music education programme which brings live
classical music to children who might not otherwise experience it. The
evaluation of the programme showed that children had a positive reaction and
had not developed any prejudices against classical music.

During the course of the project children listened to a range of music including
Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Ravel, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn. Hallam’s
research found that the process of listening to live classical repertoire
enabled children to enhance their listening skills and develop other skills
needed for careful listening, including concentration and self-discipline.

Hallam said: ‘This music programme is unique in focusing on developing children's
listening skills through guided exposure to classical music. There is no
dumbing down in this programme. It recognises the ability of children to
respond to sophisticated ideas and provides them with an opportunity to explore
their feelings and use their imagination. Teachers also found an
improvement in a range of the children's skills but particularly listening.’

The programme was originally developed by Apollo Music Projects in
partnership with Hackney Music Service. This is the tenth year
that it has been delivered in primary schools in Hackney and Tower
Hamlets and it is now expanding into neighbouring boroughs.

Mary Igoe, head teacher of one of the schools involved, said: ‘Working with Apollo Music Projects brings a new dimension to our
pupils' appreciation of music. For many of the children it is the first time
they have experienced musicians playing classical music before their eyes.
There is delight as the sound fills their own classroom and excitement when
they attend a public concert. The skills of careful listening and
differentiating musical sounds transfer to other areas of the curriculum and
improve their ability to concentrate and attend to details.’

www.apollomusicprojects.org

Big Big Sing launches in Glasgow

13 January 2014

Glasgow is working to put singing centre stage as part of the Commonwealth Games celebrations. Big Big Sing is an initiative of the
Glasgow UNESCO City of Music, set to promote singing in the run up to the
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Events planned so far include Big Big Sing
Days, the
launch of the Big Big Commonwealth Songbook, and a Schools’ Songwriting
Competition.

Events kick off with Big Big Sing Days in
Scottish cities, starting with Dundee Caird Hall on 1 February. Further
Big Big Sing Days will also take place in Glasgow on 9 February,
Edinburgh on 16 February and Aberdeen on 8 March. These events welcome
singers of all ages and abilities for a large variety of concerts and
workshops. It is hoped that similar events will take place across the
whole of the UK between February and June, though nothing was confirmed
at time of going to press.

The musical backbone of the programme is
the Big Big Commonwealth
Songbook, a series of online resources featuring music from
around the Commonwealth. Two songs are on the website already - Corrina
Hewat’s newly commissioned One
Song and a traditional Samoan song, L’au Lupe. A further
nine songs from will be added to the Songbook over the coming months.
Songs come with sound files, lyrics and scores, all of which can be
downloaded for free.
Big Big Sing is
working to promote the songs to choirs throughout the Commonwealth, and
they will be heard at singing events including the Big Big BIG Sing in
Glasgow on 27 July. This event will bring together thousands of
singers and special guests at a location in Glasgow for a mass singing
performance.

Schools have also been invited to participate
in the Schools’
Songwriting Competition. Pupils may enter either individually or
as a class, and the prize includes having a video of the song made and
the chance to perform the song as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural
Programme. One winning entry will be picked from each of the two
categories (Primary School and Secondary School).

Director of Big Big Sing, Svend
Brown said:‘We firmly believe two things: one is that anyone can sing and
the other is that the world is divided into those people who sing and
those who do not… yet! Britain is truly blessed in having many amazing
organisations and individuals that are passionate and committed about
singing – and we want to take the opportunity of the Commonwealth Games
year to work with them to champion and boost their work. Everything we
do over the coming months we do with the hope that after 2014 many more
people will sing regularly than did before, and we want to make it as
attractive and easy a thing to do as possible.’